1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to catheter ablation and, more specifically, to catheter RF ablation using segmentation-based 2D-3D registration.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Atrial fibrillation (AFIB) is a leading cause of stroke and one of the most common heart rhythm disorders. In addition to or in place of anti-arrhythmic drugs, cardiac surgery and external deregulation, AFIB may be treated using radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA). In FFCA, faulty electrical pathways within the heart may be destroyed by advancing a catheter into the patient's blood vessels, for example, though the femoral vein, internal jugular vein, or subclavian vein. The catheter may then be advanced towards the heart and high-frequency electrical impulses may be sent though the catheter to induce the arrhythmia, and then ablate (destroy) the abnormal tissue that is observed to be responsible for the arrhythmia.
In order to guide the process of finding the site of the abnormal tissue, modern cardiac mapping systems may be used to draw the heart as a 3D model and provide real-time electrical activation information. Such mapping systems include CARTO XP and EnSite NavX. In order to provide the accurate position of the pacing catheter, all of the above systems require special catheters that are much more expensive than normal catheters.
Alternatively, 2D X-ray fluoroscopy has been routinely used for cardiac catheterization. Fluoroscopy may be used to provide real-time monitoring of the procedure and catheter location visualization at reasonably low cost. However, without contrast agent injection, fluoroscopic images do not display the anatomic structures such as the atria, the ventricles, the aorta, and the pulmonary veins. In addition, 2D fluoroscopy generates projection images representing a simplification of the imaged 3D structures.